Transfer of driving penalty from USA to UK license - does this happen?

Transfer of driving penalty from USA to UK license - does this happen? - Crop unrecognizable person demonstrating British passport

Okay apologies if this question has been asked but searching all night has revealed nothing at all to me!

Simply put, do speeding tickets from the USA put points on a UK driving license?

I got pulled over for doing 75 in a 65 zone in Texas and given a standard ticket to pay. From what I've learnt (and the way the cop handled the issue) this is a misdemeanour and a lesser offence. I'm happy to pay the fine. More important to me though is that on the ticket it says that payment is a waiver of your right to plea against the conviction, and 'will result in a conviction on your driving record'.

Does this conviction transfer to 3 points on my UK license? Or is this just applying to a Texas State license?



Best Answer

No. There is no transfer to the UK (although note that some info seems to be shared with Mexico and Canada).

The UK ONLY has a mutual recognition of driving points / disqualifications with Ireland.

They address this with regards to the future, hopefully initially with other EU states, which they don't even have this with currently:

We agree in principle that cooperation over disqualifications between Member States other than with Ireland is desirable. Any EU Member State may wish to enter into similar arrangements with us in the future. At this stage we have no expectation of any other Member State doing this. If they did we would need further Regulations in the UK and, if changes in arrangements were contemplated, further public consultation would be needed. The arrangements with Ireland will provide us with practical experience in advance of possible future approaches from other Member States.

tl;dr - your points are not transferred out of the US. However, within the US, if you apply for a new (different) state license, they'll check with your home (Texas) state and find out about any said points (source - attorney in Texas).

You can find your driving record through the Texas DPS Driving Record website (for a fee).

Crimal.lawyers.com have also researched this, and they've found that there are 3 national databases, including the NDR (National Driver Register) for basically blacklisted drivers.

If and when the US shares records, you don't want your name on this one. But from the same page, for now:

As our planet seems to grow smaller, the reach of the DLA stretches father. The AAMVA is now pushing to have the DLA cover countries beyond the US, Canada and Mexico




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Can the UK put points on a foreign licence?

Non British Licence Convictions If you were the driver of the vehicle caught speeding, you should provide the details. Even though you do not have a UK licence, you will still receive a fixed penalty and penalty points will be endorsed on a record kept by the DVLA, often referred to as a 'ghost licence'.

Can you hold a US and UK driving Licence?

If your driving licence was issued in any other country, you can only use your foreign licence for twelve months after arriving in the UK.

How do I remove penalty points from my driving licence?

There is no way to remove the points from your licence once they're marked \u2013 you'll just have to wait until the points expire (after 4 years), when the DVLA will automatically remove them at the appropriate time.

How long do penalty points stay on your licence?

There are three set periods for which penalty points can stay \u201cvalid\u201d: three years from the date of the offence; three years from the date of conviction; or 10 years from the date of conviction. Once the points are no longer valid, however, they stay on your driving record for a further year.



New UK Driving Laws fine 6 points + £200




More answers regarding transfer of driving penalty from USA to UK license - does this happen?

Answer 2

Mine never did.

Texas barely cooperates with other states, definitely not Yankee states in the North and most definitely not with the British.

ps it might be worth making sure that you pay the fine. If you were visiting/work permit rather than living there permanently. Defaults on fines tend to get recorded on computers and flagged by immigration. There have been cases where people have been dragged off under arrest for minor violations from many years before because the computer system didn't discriminate between wanted terrorist and over due library book.

Answer 3

If you take defensive driving, you can also avoid having points on your Texas license assuming the court allows it.

http://www.dmv.org/tx-texas/traffic-ticket-faq.php#Can-I-take-a-driving-safety-or-defensive-driving-course-to-reduce-the-number-of-TX-drivers-license-points-on-my-driving-record

Sources: Stack Exchange - This article follows the attribution requirements of Stack Exchange and is licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0.

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